Last
night was a great time at a friend’s Bday party/BBQ gathering. Played a
game called Dixit. I love that game! I will have to purchase my own
copy, and maybe an expansion, soon. Though, Cards Against Humanity is
the game I want most. That card game is all sorts of wrong. Make sure if
you play it that it’s with people that aren’t easily offended. That’s
all I have to say on that.

Today’s prompt:

Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...).

Well,
technically I feel like this is something I just blogged about during
the A to Z challenge. My “N” post on Nostalgiawent into some aspects I missed from my childhood.

There are always more things from the past to be reminisced, though...

Moving to the Country

On
the way out to to our friend’s soiree, Stonewall Dahl (nickname in
progress, but I think she likes it) and I commented a lot about the
scenery. This would be in Mound MN, and we passed a lot of lakefront
houses — many of which were for sale — as the city itself (or the area)
seems to be surrounded by multiple lakes.

I’d
only been out there two other times, once at night and the other I
think I fell asleep; both times in Winter. Now that the snow has melted
and greenery springing to life, I was able to enjoy the beauty of nature
on the drive. I remember an exchange between us on the way, where
Stonewall commented on the houses and land. Some of the houses looked
amazing, and we figured that even the smaller estates would be expensive
as hell.

She
stated how beautiful the scenery was, at the same moment we were
passing what seemed to be a more swampy area and I was thinking how
someone could — or already had — hide a body out there. The location,
while populated, seems strangely secluded. Maybe this is just because of
the abundance of wilderness. Anyway, not to distract from the
importance of the terrain and all the beauty it offered, but I couldn’t
help but laugh at our different trains of thought.

Hmm...
wonder how creepy that comes out? I just have this odd thing of
wondering what would happen if discovering a body. Thinking along those
lines almost always brings Stephen King’s Stand By Me
to mind. Then I wonder why the hell my new writer friends (okay, maybe a
select few) seem so against seeing it. I don’t believe I’ve read the
novella, but I love the movie! Anyhow, I just think about what would
come about from finding one. How would I react? Would I become obsessed
with figuring out who they were and what happened to them? Just odd
thoughts.

The
conversation lead me to memories of my childhood and all the time I
spent exploring the woods; both with friends and alone. I love nature.
Living closer to the cities now makes it a lot harder to enjoy. There are
patches of wildlife here and there, but nothing like the country. While
it doesn’t quite compare to the journeys traversing uncharted
territory, I also miss just walking around lakes.

Back
in high school, woods and fields were our home away from home. They
were our battlefields, our forts, our land containing countless unheard
of treasures — it was just buried somewhere — our sanctuary from the
mundane where our imaginations could roam free.

So
all of this made me very nostalgic about those adventures. Once upon a
time I was called Nature Boy (okay... this was maybe a self-appointed
moniker... I can’t recall), and I would have all sorts of experiences.
The more my imagination got out of control, the more exciting.

Perhaps I will share some of those random adventures sometime.

For
now, I just thought I would share another piece of the past that I
miss. Luckily, this is one aspect that I can bring back into my life at
any given moment. Just get up, make a short jaunt out to the country,
and have an adventure.

Maybe eat me a lot of peaches along the way.

Have
you ever played Dixit or Cards Against Humanity? If so, what are your
thoughts on them? Ever have random thoughts of coming across a body
somewhere? Have you ever seen Stand By Me? Are you a nature lover, and/or enjoy exploring unfamiliar wilderness?

It’s been a long while, so I thought I would give a brief look into the reason(s) behind my absence. You’ll have to forgive my potentially awkward, stilted jibber-jabber. It may take some time for me to get warmed up…

Dreams in the Shade of Ink is back with more Flash Fiction for the A to Z Challenge 2017! Last year my segments throughout April painted a puzzled tapestry of prose and I hope to provide some new, entertaining stories that you'll enjoy!

recent META

The A to Z Challenge 2017 is over and it's time to reflect on how the event went! There were booster pack openings, there were storylines and mechanics to observe within the world of Magic: The Gathering!

Join me as I discuss the ups and downs of this year's Magic Mixer theme.

This year for the A to Z Challenge 2017 Meta MTG presents the Magic Mixer! What's that mean? Your guess is as good as mine... What I do know, however, is that this year's theme is obviously still all about Magic: The Gathering!

Join me as I attempt to highlight a different Magic set each day of the challenge in different ways, from pack openings to discussions about a set's storyline and/or mechanics!